STEVE Bruce's hopes of taking over as manager of Birmingham City could falter if Crystal Palace's bid to make him work his notice drags on through the courts....

STEVE Bruce's hopes of taking over as manager of Birmingham City could falter if Crystal Palace's bid to make him work his notice drags on through the courts.

Bruce has been placed on 'gardening leave' by Palace chairman Simon Jordan who refused to accept the former Manchester United and Birmingham player's resignation as manager.

Jordan has called for Birmingham to pay #1million in compensation or threatened to make Bruce serve notice until his contract with the Selhurst Park club runs out in the summer.

The High Court will hear the case on November 22 but any further delay in Bruce's return to St Andrews could lead to Birmingham looking elsewhere.

But the main problem they face with pursuing a different candidate to succeed Trevor Francis is that they could face a similar situation to the one they now find themselves in with Bruce.

Possible candidates include Preston's David Moyes, West Brom's Gary Megson and even Dave Jones at Wolves. All have been linked with the vacancy.

Both Moyes and Megson have seen their teams win 1-0 at St Andrews this season and their clubs would obviously fight to keep them in the same way Jordan has with Bruce at Palace.

And with Wolves top of the division, the Molineux board would incur the wrath of the fans should Jones be tempted to make the short trip across the West Midlands.

Birmingham could be tempted to look to the lower divisions, in the same way Barnsley did when they brought in Rochdale's Steve Parkin in place of David Spackman.

Former Blues boss Jim Smith has reportedly rejected the suggestion of a return for a second spell at the club.

George Graham and Harry Redknapp have been linked with the St Andrews vacancy in polls of supporters on unofficial websites.

In the meantime, caretaker bosses Mick Mills and Jim Barron continue to hold the fort and will be in charge for the trip to face Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

Since taking charge Mills and Barron have maintained Birmingham's position on the fringes of the promotion play-offs in Nationwide Division One.

Their record since taking over from Francis reads: played 7, won 2, drawn 3, lost 2, goals for 10, goals against 8.

Hardly a glowing reference to take over the running of team affairs on a permanent basis but familiarity with the players and a working relationship with the board count in their favour.

Mills has been given the go-ahead to look at new players to solve a midfield crisis which Danny Sonner and Bryan Hughes joining long-term absentee Jon McCarthy on the injury list and Stan Lazaridis away on international duty with Australia.

Although Mills has the authority to look at new players it is significant he has not been given permission to make any signings.

If Birmingham decide to stick with the Bruce option even though that could mean him not joining the club until the end of the season a new short-term candidate has come into the frame.

Bruce's former Norwich City team-mate Mark Bowen was also his reserve team coach at Selhurst Park and has been tipped to fill a holding role as caretaker boss at St Andrews until the two are free to link up again.

But with the club's majority shareholder David Sullivan having put his stake up for sale the whole picture could change.

And that could even mean a surprise return to St Andrews for former boss Francis, but whether that would be as a shareholder, as the head of a new consortium or even as manager remains to be seen.